A mobile phone firm was accused of foul play after erecting a telephone mast before a planning appeal had been heard.

A group of 25 protesters tried to stop phone giant O2/Airwave putting up the mast on Saturday near the rural West Sussex village of Rogate.

They claim there are still safety concerns over technology used in the the mast, known as TETRA, or Terrestrial Trunk Radio Access.

But O2, which admitted pre-empting the result of its own appeal against a decision by two councils to reject the mast, insisted the equipment is safe.

The mast is part of a huge network developed to give the police and other emergency services high quality, total radio coverage across the country, even in rural areas.

The mast at the centre of the Rogate dispute, and another erected at nearby Up Marsden, is part of the Sussex Police network.

An O2/Airwave spokesman said: "The network is about 60 per cent complete across the UK. We have 30 forces already on the service, which is a Government-sponsored project.

"The problem is that we have to deliver the system, and so we have had to push ahead with masts such as at Rogate."

The protest group, many members of campaign group Protect Sussex from TETRA, said the firm should have waited until the appeal, prompted by Rogate Parish Council and Chichester District Council's objections, had been heard.

Protester Vivienne Coleshill said: "They are riding roughshod over our democratic rights.

"We say there is evidence that TETRA masts pose serious health risks, such as cancer."